Drinking and driving my version
by FencingFilly
Summary: This an alternative version of the epsiode called drinking and driving, The gang get into a car crash after coming back from a party, all is not well for one of the gang and another dreams have to be put on hold for a while
1. Chapter 1

**Drinking and driving what should have happened**

The toga party was now starting to drag as everyone was passed out due to either alcohol or due to sheer tiredness. Zack and the gang decided that it was time to go home.

"Well I better call my mum to pick me up; they still don't trust me with the car since I crashed it trying to get it out of the garage," said screech taking out his phone.

"No its fine, we'll give you a lift Lisa has her mum's car so we can drop you off on the way to mines it's only a couple of blocks away" replied Zack

"There is no way I can drive in this state, I am way too drunk"

"I can't either," put in Slater

"I'll drive," reposted Zack taking the key out of Lisa's hand.

"You sure you haven't had too much to drink?" Questioned Slater looking at Zack who shook his head, saying he felt he felt fine and there would be no problem.

**Little did they know?**

They set off singing along to the radio, and miming along as well with all the dance moves. The car kept swaying as Zack danced along, Slater saying both hands on the wheel Prappie. Everything was fine for a while after that then just as Zack reached now to change the tape over a lorry came out of nowhere, driving on the wrong side of the road. Zack looked up in time just to miss it but the car spun on some black ice carrying the car into a wall at the side of the road with a great deal of force.

**Slater POV**

I looked around Lisa and Screech looked ok in the back of the car, Lisa had a cut above her eyebrow and Screech had bits of glass from the window sticking in his face but apart from that they looked fine. I accessed myself before looking at Zack. My shoulder hurt, hopefully nothing too serious or I would be out of the Homecoming Game. Then I turned to my left to look at Zack who was sitting in the driver's seat, he had huge gashes on his face and was cringing in a lot of pain obviously. There was glass sticking out of his arm. It didn't look good!

**End of Slater POV**

"Oh no the police will be here any minute one of the other cars will have called them, what are we going to do?" exclaimed Lisa now starting to cry in desperation "They are sure to test Zack's blood Alcohol level and then he will be sent to prison for drinking under age and drink driving."

"No, its fine .... Screech hasn't been drinking ...we can swap...seats... then the police will test Screech's.... alcohol levels which will be fine..." said Zack through waves of pain.

"Are you sure you can move Prappie? You look pretty banged up." cut in Slater

Zack ignoring Slater's Question started to get out of his seat as best you can without opening the door and feeling as if every bone it your body was broken and on fire on the 3rd attempt he managed with help from the other 3 to manoeuvre onto the back seat. Screech moved over to allow Zack to sit down where he had been previously and then moved slightly more quickly as he was basically unharmed into the driver's seat.

The paramedics arrived shortly after the switch and started assessing the scene; looking at the damage to the car they presumed the driver would be in a serious condition and would need urgent medical attention, on approaching the car though they saw that the driver though with shards of glass poking out of his face looked in very little pain this worried them and they thus presumed he must have internal injuries or he had been very lucky. They started to assess the other casualties as the 2nd team of Paramedics removed Screech from the car.

Slater calling out to the paramedics said they need to focus on the Zack, (who by this point was coming very close to passing out through the pain which was radiating through his entire body) they thus went to Zack and started to talk to him while assessing his condition and preparing to move him onto a gurney.


	2. Chapter 2

**At the hospital**

As the Nurses started to assess Zack's condition, a doctor asked him a few questions;

"Can you tell me your name please and how old you are?"

"Zack Morris.... 17" said Zack trying to talk through now swollen lips

"Can you tell me if your back or neck hurt?"

"No they are one of the few things that don't hurt," having had some morphine the pain was now not quite so bad and he could manage to talk without crying in pain.

Now talking to the room at large "Ok so we are going to get some x-rays on that leg and chest and I want a scan on the abdomen to check for internal bleeding."

The medical team in the next room were baffled by the fact that Screech was basically unharmed when he had been driving. They had done X-rays and Scans and found no injuries. They had removed the glass from his face and stitched him up and had to discharge him as they could fine nothing medically wrong with him that his friends said wasn't there before the accident.

Slater told Screech that if the police tried to question him about the accident say that he wanted one of his friends to be with him for support, just as a police officer came over to talk to them.

"Do you want to grab some drinks then we can have a talk about the accident?" said a pretty police officer with long chestnut hair who looked like she would rather be at home than questioning some kids at 2am.

"Yeah sure," said Lisa and Slater in unison.

They made their way to a table in the waiting area so they could hear any news on Zack when it came out, the Police officer came back with 4 cans of Coke, handing one to each of them. Lisa opened Slater's for him as he was struggling to do so as him arm was strapped to his body with a shoulder sling.

"So you were driving Samuel?" having got their names from the receptionist.

"Yes Screech was driving, Slater was in the front and Zack and I were in the back." replied Lisa not giving Screech a chance to muck up the story they had rehearsed while waiting for the ambulances.

"Ok can I get a list of your injuries?"

"Yeah, don't know about Zack but I've got a broken collar bone and 2 broken ribs, Lisa and Screech have minor cuts and bruises." responded Slater speaking for all the gang.

Just then a short slightly plump nurse came over and asked if they were Zack's friends and did they have Zack's parents' number.

Slater responded that yes they were his friends and that they had already called his mum who said she would be over as soon as she could get there. He also asked if there was any update on his condition.

"I am sorry to say the news is not very good, Zackary has 2 broken ribs, a broken ankle and femur, and damage to the tendons in his knee. He will require surgery to pin his leg, deal with any internal injuries and also to remove the glass from his arm as we are worried he may have severed a blood vessel. It's odd that he is so injured when you being the driver are almost unharmed."

"Can we see him before he goes into surgery?" asked Lisa before Screech could say anything

"No I am sorry he is sedated and we are just waiting for his mother to get here then he is going straight into surgery."

As the nurse left the police officer asked them to please describe what happened to cause the crash, Lisa gave her as detailed a description of what had happened as she could manage. The police officer continued to ask them questions trying to get as full a picture of the event as possible; having got the results from the doctors on Screech's blood alcohol level which came back showing he had consumed no alcohol she left though still thinking to herself it didn't quite all make sense she thought something didn't quite add up.

**6 hours later**

Walking into Zack's room where he was lying just having come around from the anaesthetic, Torii was with them as well having been called by Lisa to brief her on the situation. As they got closer to his bed Zack began to stir and tried to sit up though through pain and a gentle but firm hand from Torii remained lying down.

"How are you feeling?" asked Lisa while Slater help Zack move the head part of his bed up so he could see them slightly better.

"Like I am all wrapped in cotton wool and the pain is their but it feels slightly dull." replied Zack who looked very uncomfortable with his leg resting up in a sling and as he had no shirt on you could see his arm and chest were bandaged and that he had a small rectangular dressing on his stomach.

"Your mum said the surgery went well and that you should be out in a couple of days as long as all goes well though you will have to be back for regular check-ups." said Lisa now sitting on the edge of his bed.

"Ok Guys we all have to promise one thing, that we will never mention what really happened to anyone not even your parents. What happened last night was Screech was driving and he swerved to miss the lorry and we crashed, OK!" whisper Slater just loud enough for them all to hear.

They all silently agreed even Screech knew the seriousness of the situation and managed to not be stupid and blurt something important out really loudly.

They looked at Zack, seeing how tired he looked and the fact that none of them had slept in over 24 hours they decided to go home, leaving Zack to get some rest.


	3. Chapter 3

**The Next day**

Zack was sitting up in bed supported my lots of pillows and reading comics (which Slater had brought over from Zack's house before school), when Mr Belding came in and put some chocolates down on the bedside table. Zack didn't look up until he sat down in the chair next to the bed.

"Hey Mr Belding," responded Zack who was on an IV of pain meds and so was in a fairly good mood.

"When Screech told me this morning I thought it was one of your schemes to get out a pop quiz or something and didn't believe he was telling the truth that you really were in a car crash." replied Mr. Belding looking at Zack like he was genuinely surprised that he was lying in the hospital bed.

"You should trust me more sir I wouldn't dream of lying about something like that and cutting school with an awful excuse like that, i would never do such a thing," he said with a hint of Sarcasm in his voice.

"Well I really do need to be getting back to running the school; I just came to check you were actually hurt." And with that he left.

**Back at school**

Slater slung into the changing rooms where he knew the football team (which he was the captain of) were getting changed for their final practice before the big homecoming game the next day. As he got further in one of the players looked up from where he was tying his lace and exclaimed "What happened to your arm?"

The coach who had been in his office next door to the changing rooms came in saw Slater's arm in its sling and knew this was very bad news for the team on the day before one of the biggest games of the season behind State championships (if they got there which would be hindered in Slater was badly injured)

"I was in a Car crash, and I did my shoulder in," he replied dejectedly looking at his team who looked lost without their leader. He knew he had to be strong for his team no matter how bad he was feeling "You are a great Team; Mike, Josh you need to close down their Running Back and take control of their offensive line and put pressure on their ¼ back to make a mistake. We can still go out there and win tomorrow, you all with me?"

With that there was a shout resounding throughout the locker room the team had refound their leader. Slater had to try very hard not to be trampled as the team exited the changing rooms. The pain in his shoulder was pretty intense now after having 10 or so big burly guys bang into it but it was ok as he shouldn't have got drunk and let his drunk friend drive and cover up the accident as well, it was a just punishment and not being able to play was as well. He hoped his team won as it was fair his team and school had to suffer just because of his stupid mistake.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Its not finished but i thought i would put up as much as i had written and hoped that people would review it and give be honest crictic

This is my first facfic and so i hope it isn't too bad

thanx

SH


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Later that day

"So when are you getting out of here?" asked Lisa

"Tomorrow but I'm not allowed back at school till next week. Which is so good a whole 'nother week off school no homework or classes to try not to sleep though." replied Zack sitting back in bed now that the pain had died down a bit he could sit back and enjoy being waited on and missing school.

"Oh, by the way Mr Dewey send you all the work we did today and your homework, he says he will send you all the work until you get back so you don't get behind." said Torii taking the wad of paper out of her bag.

"Geez, I am in hospital recovering from a near-fatal car accident and I get send Math homework, anybody else got some good news for me." Zack said with sarcasm creeping into his voice.

"Near-fatal is a slight exaggeration and yeah sorry Mr Heimlich sent you some physics work too." said Slater rubbing his shoulder.

"Your shoulder still sore? Oh and you phoned your dad yet." asked Torii

"Yeah it's still achy but it's getting better. No, thanks for reminding I need to call him haven't called him since the crash, he will be getting slightly worried if I don't call him soon though." replied Slater "Do you guys mind if I call him I'll be right back after that though"

"Yeah go right ahead," they all agreed.

Slater went out into the hall and asked the nurse where the pay-phone was, he continued down the hall to where she had said dialling the number for his dad.

"Hey Dad" said Slater when his dad picked up.

"Hello son, nice of you to call. So what have you been up too?" asked his father

"Not much really, school mainly then hanging out with the gang," he didn't want to tell his dad about the accident but knew he would have too at some point; his dad would be back tomorrow and would wonder why Slater wasn't playing in the Homecoming game.

"Well tomorrow should be good, the team are sure to win with you as captain. Oh and I heard there are college scouts coming to your next wrestling state match look for scholarship worthy players. So if you do well you could end up at a college with a good education and wrestling."

This had been his dream but he knew that the next match was next week and there no way his shoulder would be healed by then let alone strong enough to wrestle. The doctor said he had to wear the sling for 5 weeks and then had to take it easy for another 2-3 weeks. He had asked how long before he was allowed to play sports and was told not for a long time maybe even up to 4 months for sports like wrestling or football.

"About that dad there is something I haven't told you ... I was in a car crash,"

"What are you ok?????" asked Slater's dad, trying to cover up the fear in his voice.

"Yeah mostly, broken collar bone and a couple of cracked ribs but apart from that I am perfectly fine" replied Slater trying to reduce his father's fears.

"Was anyone else in the accident, what happened?" asked Major Slater

"Yeah Zack, Lisa and Screech, Screech and Lisa are fine but Zack is pretty banged up he is still in hospital but should make a full recovery with physio. Screech was driving tried to avoid a lorry and crashed." trying to give him only the facts and nothing else and the story they had agreed on.

"So no sport for a while then," Slater could hear the slight sadness in his voice, when Slater had told him that he wasn't going to join the army, the Major had told him he had to follow his dream till his end. "So ... I'll see you tomorrow, you still going to the game I presume" asked the Major.

"Yeah, I am the captain after all, you don't have to come though if you have unpacking to do though." replied Slater attempting to hide the disappointment (that he couldn't play) from his voice.

"I'll see how tired I am, well I need to go, see you tomorrow." with that he hung up.

Going back to Zack's room slightly more dejected than he had left it, Zack was sitting trying to write the answers to his Math homework with an IV attached to his hand which seemed to be causing him some problems. Screech offered to write the answers for him then he could write the correct answers for Zack and just say Zack had been struggling to write due to being still hooked up to a bag of pain meds . This seemed to be causing much laughter with the gang, but even this couldn't lighten Slater's mood. Visiting Hours soon were over and the gang left for what would be the last time as Zack was discharged the next day.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Even though Zack wasn't allowed back to school till next week he didn't think that going to a school football game counted. As Zack and the gang entered the stadium, a police car drew up and 2 police officers got out.

"Samuel Powers I am arresting you on the charge of dangerous driving, you have the right to remain silent, anything you say may be taken down as evidence and used against you in a court of law." Said the police officer pulling out a set of handcuffs which he secured round Screech's wrists.

Slater stayed behind as he was meant to support his team from the sidelines but the other 3 piled into Torii's car and made their way to the police station, they had thought their lie would be the end of it, as they were the only ones harmed and it was in their opinion an easy case for the police, open shut no-one's fault really. But what they hadn't counted on was the driver off the truck blaming them for the accident saying they had been driving dangerously and had caused the accident not him as another report against him would mean him losing his job.

When they arrived they met Mr and Mrs Powers in the Lobby and asked them what was going on, they replied that they had no clue as they had only just got there themselves.

When the police had finished further questioning of Screech they asked the arresting officer why he had arrested Screech.

"After questioning the lorry driver we found out that he had been driving along and that a car came zigzagging out of nowhere and crashed having swerved to avoid crashing and that it was Screech's fault. So we arrested Screech accordingly".

"Can I have a word with you in private," said Zack wincing as he was still in quite a lot of pain from the accident and really should be resting at home as the doctor had advised not standing in a police station. Despite not wanting to get in trouble or acting like Screech did not matter to him that much he couldn't let Screech pay for his mistake.

Despite protests from his friends he followed the officers into a room. He decided the charade had gone on long enough and told them what had really happened. The officers told him did he know how serious this confession was and he said he did.

The officers said they would be in touch and left. Zack knew that it was better that they knew the real story and hopefully they would be lenient on him and not charge him with both drinking under age and drunk driving, though he supposed that they had no prove that he was over the legal limit or even that he had been drinking. He had not signed a confession thus his confession was immiscible in court and he would get off he thought.

**A week later **

Zack had just spoken to the police again and they said if he was agreeable that they would give him a suspended sentence and that since it was his first offence it would disappear from his record in 3 years time and that as long as he kept his nose clean for the next few years he had nothing to worry about. He agreed that if they could get a judge to formalise it that he would be happy to agree, he thought this was incredibly lenient but had opened his eyes to how much trouble such a little thing could have caused.

The Gang came round to his a few hours later to hear what the police had decided and they made a pact there and then that if they ever did go to a party again that was serving alcohol one of the group would stay sober and that person would drive. They had got off lightly this time but might not be so lucky next time.


End file.
